Tracing – Strokes of Genius

To languidly trace the outline of the cheek or nose, the contours of the beloved, to cup the head of a young child in our hand and feel its vibrant curve: retracing in our feeling motion what is near to us, every nerve set to accepting, getting to know in silent veneration…

Even retracing, drawing on paper the shapes of a hand or the outlines of a vase: we do not intend to change anything, improve or destroy with planned action. We are with what for now exists as eternity, as its own perfection. We stroke the surface, feel the substance beneath – stroke not even to caress or reassure, but to attend. No riches given, none taken. No lesson offered, none received. The marvel of formation, sometime, in infinite pasts, futures, and right here, now: always its own perspective.

“Genius” in the original Latin simply referred to the guiding spirit of each person, the always already present and yet just emerging transformation of who each one of us is. Our genius inspires awe and attendance not because of any extraordinary inventions or ideas it produces. Each human being, indeed each plant, animal, life form is a stroke of genius to be revered, until our reverence turns into love.